wtf? more than 1,500 people arrested in convention-related protests

What is this a freakin' police state? Later in the article it says "With a few exceptions, largely peaceful protests." So 1,500 people were arrested for demonstrating PEACEFULLY. What is wrong with this picture?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5822306/

More than 1,500 convention-related arrests
Police said more than 1,500 people have been arrested in convention-related protests since late last week. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said police “have shown great restraint in the face of relentless provocation.”

-snip-

With a few exceptions, largely peaceful protests
The anti-GOP activism has been largely peaceful, with only a few exceptions.

Near Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site, police encircled scores of demonstrators with orange netting and arrested them for blocking the sidewalk.

Outside the Fox News Channel studios in midtown Manhattan, police in riot gear contained around 1,000 demonstrators behind barricades. In what was dubbed a “shut-up-athon,” protesters denounced what they called the network’s right-wing slant.

Yup...I believe about 900 were arrested last night. There were a couple of sweeps that rounded up bystanders and demonstrators alike. From what I heard there really wasn;t much in the way of demonstrating going on.

Well, not parading as dems anyway...they were several other leagues, people wearing pig noses and throwing around fake money --- one of them beat the crap of out a policeman as well.

www.cnn.com its on the front page.

n/t

Being arrested for the public good ....

But: what of the other 1499 ? ...

Is wearing pig noses and tossing fake money agains the law ? .. a crime against the state ???

:evilgrin:

the government for redress of greivances."

Some old thing I read somewhere. Obviously inapplicable at political conventions in Boston or New York.

make a powerful statement to America and the rest of the world.

It's hard to believe you can get arrested for blocking a sidewalk when the police have shut down whoel city blocks around MSG.

I hope someone runs with this idea at some point.

Maybe not for the convention protests, but something to do with what is happening to our constitution.

Although.... it wouldn't be comfortable to have tape over one's mouth. :)

Kanary

The NYPD had to deploy extra police so it only makes sense that the city is going to recoup some of the costs by rounding up a couple of thousand protestors and fine them a hundred bucks....

$200K...some will fight it, costing the city and themselves more, most won't.

It is sickening that this country has been divided by a ruling elite that are manipulating the weak and inmpressionable minds of this country.

The protesters are today's American heroes, even though the media may still be trying to spin them as "crazies". The only way to wake the conscience of the American people is to put bodies on the line, a la Gandhi and MLKing, Jr.

What hero smuggles in smoke bombs to ignite a dragon head during a march? what hero physically attacks police. As a registered democrat, it is statements like that that cause me to look at Nader as the only qualified candidate

You cite 2 instances to draw conclusions about the hundreds of thousands of protestors?

The 2 instances matches his number of posts.

;)

but I don't want to break the rules and call posters trolls :)

Also, on a re-read, the post might be in regards to only those individuals causing troubles, rather than the protest as a whole.

Still at two posts. Eh, we'll see.

You say you are a Democrat and because a couple of protesters did dumb stuff you're switching to Nader. Um, Nader collects signatures to get on the ballot in some states in a manner best described as "illegal."

Is that better than a couple of violent guys (and you don't even know if they were Dems or not)?

Besides, the other poster wasn't saying the violent ones were the heroes.

n/t

Second, the people that did those things are criminals. Those are 3 cases out of 750,000 protesters.

Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Right now, it's unclear to me what "things" posters are referring to. Perhaps it's lighting the dragon on fire. NYPD made an arrest, but various reports seriously question any possible culpability on the part of the person arrested. Likewise, the NYPD have made an arrest in the case of the cop who was beaten. Still to be determined is whether the cop who was beaten was engaging in behavior that can be construed as criminal, such as charging into dense crowds of protesters on a motorized scooter, failing to identify himself as a NYPD officer.

For all I (and anyone reading this) knows right now, both of these incidents could have been caused by individuals in an NYPD 'Red Squad. Or do you just want to join the Repukes and just start packing people off for Guantanamo without charges or trials?

The people that did those things are criminals, whether they are agent provocateurs or private citizens doesn't matter. They deserve their trials. There are video tapes of all of this. The trials will be nice and short. And BTW, I have been on the streets every night. I was even at the protest where the cop was beaten. I didn't see it, but I was there. What street were you on?

Then you are one of my heroes. I am in Los Angeles and could not come, although I did participate in a Solidarity Demonstration in Santa Monica on Sunday (attended by about 100 people).

Didn't mean to start any fire-storm with my post, just to point out that calling people 'criminals' before any evidence has been presented seems a bit presumptuous.

But there are videos of those incidents and I've seen them. I am assuming the cops got the right people, but either way, the people that did it are bad.

I'm not much of a spiritualist but, if I were, I'd be talking about all the dark energy that Bush and the Repukes have unleashed.

Don't mean to keep draggin this on, but I think "assuming the cops got the right people" is also asking a lot, especially the lighting on fire of the dragon. From what I heard on Democracy Now and read in Indy Media, the person arrested was little more than a bystander (from Tucson, if I'm remembering correctly) marching with other friends from Tucson.

I have only seen really bad video (grainy and ill-defined), so I think I will have to defer to your representation of what was taking place, especially since you were also there.

a reporter from faux threw a lite cigarette at the dragon, which caused the fire. Nobody smuggled in a bomb. And i don't believe you are a registered Dem either.

They were "peaceful" but were participating in the civil disobedience that was planned for yesterday.

My friend was there...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2295535

That's a LOT of people who are willing the spend the last of their summer vacation for something like this.

And frankly, if the 1,500 were trouble makers, the protest is better off without them.

(That assumes all of the 1,500 were dragon burning morons. My apologies to any who didn't deserve to be arrested.)

there has been some violence with people being attacked, their pro-bush signs ripped from their hands and destroyed, things like that.

I have a hunch though that a good number of the arrests are of people who were engaged in a peaceful activity that was contrary to law and police requests.

Most probably taken down town and then let go.

With the diesel fuel and cockroaches....

"...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

and you'll have 90% of DU jumping down your throat saying that "just because the Constitution says so," doesn't mean that you can't write laws on top of that one that "clarifies" and "refines" the orginal. There are a myriad of laws pertaining to demonstrations. These include where and when you can protest, obstructing traffic and commerce, etc.

I don't like these laws either, and were it my call, I'd abolish most if not all of them. But as long as they're on the books they are to be enforced.

That said-- I don't know the circumstances of the individual arrests. It wouldn't suprise me if some of them were excessive, but I'll also expect that some of them were legitimate.